The secretary general of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Habib Boulares, announced on Thursday in Tunis, the creation as of 2006, of a new Maghrebian Bank for investment and foreign trade, the BMICE (Banque Maghrebine de l`Investissement et du Commerce Exterieur), which "could open the way to the adaptation of a single Maghrebian currency."
Mr. Boulares, who spoke at the opening of the 10th conference of senior Maghrebian bankers (devoted to "the development of the Maghrebian banks and the safeguarding of their financial stability"), explained that the BMICE would be able to start operating already in next September, following the meeting of the Council of the Maghrebian Ministers of Finance.
Mr. Boulares added that the main objective of the new regional bank would be to help the countries of the region (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia) to set up an inciting environment for investments, to intensify their mutual trade (currently far beneath their actual potential, accounting for approximately 3% of their foreign exchange) and to support greater fluidity and movement of goods and services between these countries.
